20 April 2010

Appunto

Un commento:I am a pilot. I have been flying all types of aircraft for more than 20 years. This closure has reinforced the general level of fear and misunderstanding that pervades among the general public, the news media, and elected officials regarding aviation.

While I am no geologist, I would sincerely question how this eruption differs so dramatically from the eruption that occurred at Mt. St. Helens in the United States in May 1980 [o quella dell'Etna 2002, su minore scala]. My understanding of both the current event and that historical eruption leads me to believe that the St. Helens event was a far more explosive eruption that released substantially more ash in a shorter period of time. And while air travel was somewhat disrupted in the northwestern United States, there was no airspace closure that even came close to rivaling the scale of restrictions imposed in Europe as a result of the current Icelandic event.

It is my personal and professional opinion that European governments have over-reacted. While there is a safety issue, it is manageable and did not require a weeklong-plus closure of airspace in Europe. As a professional pilot, I would not hesitate to fly over the Continent in a commercial airliner were governments there to ease their imposed restrictions.

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